meeting with world leaders and his civil rights hero. >> so help me god. >> reporter: as promised, he stepped down as president of south africa after serving just one term. >> south africa has been a despotic state through almost the whole of the 20th century. mandela's legacy stands against it. that is one of the best and most optimistic qualities that he hands to the people of south africa. >> reporter: by all accounts, the measure of this man can be taken by what he wants to be remembered for. here lies nelson mandela said, a man whos has done his duty on earth. >> keith miller reporting. joining us the council on foreign relations richard haas. we talk a lot in vague terms how iconic and important he was. can you somehow crystallize it from a global perspective, his impact? >> just imagine if nelson mandela had been a different kind of person and south africa had gone into a bloody race war in which apartheid didn't end peacefully, but instead, had been a violent transition in which hundreds of thousands of people had died simply because of race. imagine what that would have meant